Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name: Kathleen McAuley
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
Informal Assessment: "Rock City"
Formal Assessment: Chapter 22 Test
II. Preparation / Development
1. Overall, I am beginning to assess students different. For this particular assignment I created an informal assignment involving the rock cycle and a formal assignment as a chapter unit test. At first, I wanted the students to create their own visual rock cycles based upon the information given in the textbook. After overhearing the students complain about how "boring" science is and how English was always fun (I suppose the change was stemmed by some inter-departmental jealousy) I created a whole new assignment titled "Rock City." My formal assessment was much more "boring" for the 9th graders since it is the chapter test.
Interesting how Ss have their ways of helping teachers know when their teaching isn't meeting local standards. ;-) Most teachers would do what you did... try to determine what their students find "always fun." - fogleman
2. Informal Assessment
This assignment was geared towards having the students explore the rock cycle in a way they may not have had an opportunity to in the past. They all could list the three types of rocks, so instead of drilling this information again they were told to explore the characteristics of the rocks and the processes they go through.
ESS1 (9-11) - 3 Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time within earth systems by … 3a explaining how heat (produced by friction, radioactive decay and pressure) affects the Rock Cycle. 3c investigating and using evidence to explain that conservation in the amount of earth materials occurs during the Rock Cycle.
Formal Assessment This chapter test covered the unit "geology". This included layers of the Earth, identification tests for minerals, the rock cycle, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes. I define geology as the study of Earth and its processes, which is what we covered in this chapter. All of these processes involved the Earth and its changes, though tsunamis were included in a side video since students were inquiring about how earthquakes cause tsunamis. This information was not included on this test. In order to demonstrate these topics I used real life examples, including Pompeii (which the Italian students had gone on a field trip to the Boston exhibit on Pompeii two days before) and the earthquake in Japan last year. We also discussed the earthquake that was felt this past summer in Rhode Island. Clips of earthquakes in schools were also used to help students gain a better understanding of how it would effect their lives.The biggest problem I had with this unit was general disinterest. In order to engage students I used a variety of methods including videos, songs, hands on activities and discussions. All of these were assessed on the test at one point. This topic is not only a GSE, giving it importance for the NECAP testing, it is also essential for the students to understand how the Earth "works". There were many questions about the liquid layer of the Earth, and if that was connected to quicksand. After addressing these misconceptions, I began to understand just how little the students knew about the processes in the Earth, they only knew about the labels given to various layers or rock types. By allowing the students to really see the different processes and assess these formatively, I was able to give a formal assessment that accommodated all learners and allowed for a writing activity with choices as to which topics they were assessed on. I would most likely include a writing question after that addressed a higher Bloom's Level the next time I give this assessment.
ESS1 (9-11) - 3 Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time within earth systems by … 3a explaining how heat (produced by friction, radioactive decay and pressure) affects the Rock Cycle. 3b explaining how convection circulations of the mantle initiate the movement of the crustal plates which then cause plate movement and seismic activity. 3c investigating and using evidence to explain that conservation in the amount of earth materials occurs during the Rock Cycle. 3d explaining how the physical and chemical processes of the Earth alter the crust (e.g. seafloor spreading, hydrologic cycle, weathering, element cycling).
3. This assignment allowed students to be creative in their presentation of the phases that rocks go through in the rock cycle. All of my students in both of my classes knew the names of the three types of rocks. To their extreme disappointment, this meant that we were going more in depth with the rock cycle. Knowing which rock went through each process in order to change was the main focus of this project. This was also a great project to have on hand since the day we were supposed to take notes the southern half of Rhode Island lost power. This project was already printed and did not need technology to be completed. Students used their textbooks in order to gather information about different processes in the rock cycle. They had the option to create a hospital pamphlet, newspaper article or a rap song for Rock City.
Nice effort to give Ss a choice. I'll be you still had to "sell" the assignment. ;-) - fogleman
4. This chapter test was used to test the student knowledge of the layers of the Earth, mineral properties, rock cycle, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes. The test had 15 multiple choice, 10 fill in the blank, 2 diagrams for a total of 10 labels and a 3 paragraph essay on a given topic. There were three topics for the essay the students were allowed to choose from. I have two test versions, though for this assignment I will only discuss Test A.
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
Since students in this class were already exposed to the rock cycle in middle school, I wanted to use this prior knowledge in a creative way. We had just finished using a rap song about the layers of the Earth, which the students enjoyed. I based this activity off of their reactions. By providing different types of expression (music, drawing and writing) this assignment not only reached hobbies of a multitude of students but allowed me to see more about the students personalities. They were forced to provide information in a creative fashion, which is something that not many of them have had an opportunity to do. Also, all students were required to present their findings to the class. This helped keep the students on task since no one wanted to look "dumb" when they were presenting. It forced them to put effort into the project academically for a better grade and creatively for social reasons.
Where you able to connect the assignment to an inquiry practice? - fogleman
The picture did not display on any of these videos. Was that intentional? What type of feedback did you give to each group? What skills would Ss need to do this type of assignment at a level that you would be please about? - fogleman
10. This assessment showed a variety of ways to assess students, though looking back it stayed extremely low on Bloom's taxonomy. I have reviewed my formal assessment and concluded that every question was either an identification or definition question. Even the essay, which I used in order to assess higher thinking, is only an identification essay. The students were only required to recall information when given a prompt and provide details. This is not the higher level thinking that I was hoping to strive for in my class. I was hoping to create an assessment that was easily passable for all students. Instead I think that I should have given a more intensive written component. I would like to address the synthesis of plate tectonics and earthquake and volcano placement on the Earth for the next time I give this chapter exam next month.
So how could you address the concepts of the chapter at a higher level? - fogleman
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. I definitely learned about the unpreparedness that students assume is allowed. I have had multiple headaches dealing with getting students to be at the quality of work I would assume 9th graders to hand in. These two assignments avoided the persistant laziness that I am constantly faced with. The first assignment, "Rock City", had students become their own project creators. This forced students to be creative and informative in order to get a high grade and to not look foolish in front of the class. Each group presented their assignment to the class, so any group that was grossly unprepared would have been considered bad by their peers, which in the end helped boost the general interest in the project. The chapter test was given as a summative assessment, with a variety of question methods. I used multiple choice, fill in the blank, diagrams and a short essay in order to assess the students learning of the chapter. The students overall learned about the processes of the rock cycle, the layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, mineral identification tests, earthquakes and volcanoes. This chapter about the Earth's Interoir addressed many misconceptions about the rock cycle, though if I were to return to the unit, I would place more emphasis on plate tectonics. Students were struggling with the concept of convection currents under the plates and what causes the movement. Next time I would try and leave more time at the end of the unit to address these questions, instead of in the review for the test.
What do you think the effect would be of challenging Ss to share their videos outside of the classroom? - fogleman
It would be interesting to see if grades on your project correlated with grades on your test. - fogleman
12. OMIT
13. The following two graphs show the test scores for the formal assessment between two gender groupings.
Beautiful boxplots. Did you use an app to generate them? - fogleman
Overall, these graphs only reiterate what I see in the classroom. The males in class often have problems focusing, and overall their average is lower than the females. For this particular class, however, there are less females than males. This contributed to the difference in the graphs. In both of my classes, there are more males than females, which definitely has an effect on the maturity level that I see daily. The students are definitely starting to mature and follow directions better, though I do see a huge difference between the academic standards in my classroom versus an 11th grade biology room. The grades for the graphs were out of 50 points. The highest grade in this class was a 98%, as seen on the male chart. The lowest grade was a 28, as seen on the female chart. These grades were not normal of their gender groupings though, as seen by the averages of 42 for females and of 38 for males.
14. Any student who failed the chapter test was able to use another form of assessment (essay about plate tectonics) in order to bring up their grade. This was considered a "booster" while still holding students responsible for the GSE's in this unit. As stated above, I would redo the unit inculding this assessment. Instead I created the assessment as a way to help students who were struggling understand the material better. I also corrected every students paper with the right answers. Students could look up the answers as to why what they wrote was wrong in order to review for the final. By having the correct answers on the paper I helped guide students correctly when studying or reviewing, as to not create more confusion over a question they already got wrong.
15: Overall, my assessments were targeted for not only the GSE but also my personal classroom objectives. By having the students learn about the Earth's interior I was able to improve upon existing knowledge and also their misconceptions of natural disasters. The next time I do this unit, however, I would like to incorporate higher level thinking assessments.Good. :-)- fogleman This was the first unit I used with my classes, and I think they were just as confused at times as I was nervous. This unit was targeted for the low levels of learning that I had predicted the students were capable of. I now know that they only play "dumb" to get by class without doing work. When we had class discussions on topics the students were interested in (for example, is mineral makeup really made out of minerals, how precious gems are different from rocks, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions) I was able to probe the students for higher thinking which they didn't realize they were doing. My next unit will absolutely include much more depth of understanding questions in addition to a full length opinion essay on a science topic. These assessments could be improved upon by including questions such as synthesis of information. The informal assessment could be heightened by changing the requirements from 4-5 pieces of information about the processes in the rock cycle to 8 pieces of information. There is a multitude of ways these assessments could be improved, though overall they were successful as implemented in understanding the students learning.
Would you have student research the topics and include evidence for their claims?
20/24 Very creative assignment; Would have been nice to see/hear your feedback for each Ss - fogleman
Name: Kathleen McAuley
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
II. Preparation / Development
1. Overall, I am beginning to assess students different. For this particular assignment I created an informal assignment involving the rock cycle and a formal assignment as a chapter unit test. At first, I wanted the students to create their own visual rock cycles based upon the information given in the textbook. After overhearing the students complain about how "boring" science is and how English was always fun (I suppose the change was stemmed by some inter-departmental jealousy) I created a whole new assignment titled "Rock City." My formal assessment was much more "boring" for the 9th graders since it is the chapter test.
Interesting how Ss have their ways of helping teachers know when their teaching isn't meeting local standards. ;-) Most teachers would do what you did... try to determine what their students find "always fun." -
2. Informal Assessment
This assignment was geared towards having the students explore the rock cycle in a way they may not have had an opportunity to in the past. They all could list the three types of rocks, so instead of drilling this information again they were told to explore the characteristics of the rocks and the processes they go through.
ESS1 (9-11) - 3
Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time within earth systems by …
3a explaining how heat (produced by friction, radioactive decay and pressure) affects the Rock Cycle.
3c investigating and using evidence to explain that conservation in the amount of earth materials occurs during the Rock Cycle.
Formal Assessment
This chapter test covered the unit "geology". This included layers of the Earth, identification tests for minerals, the rock cycle, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes. I define geology as the study of Earth and its processes, which is what we covered in this chapter. All of these processes involved the Earth and its changes, though tsunamis were included in a side video since students were inquiring about how earthquakes cause tsunamis. This information was not included on this test. In order to demonstrate these topics I used real life examples, including Pompeii (which the Italian students had gone on a field trip to the Boston exhibit on Pompeii two days before) and the earthquake in Japan last year. We also discussed the earthquake that was felt this past summer in Rhode Island. Clips of earthquakes in schools were also used to help students gain a better understanding of how it would effect their lives.The biggest problem I had with this unit was general disinterest. In order to engage students I used a variety of methods including videos, songs, hands on activities and discussions. All of these were assessed on the test at one point. This topic is not only a GSE, giving it importance for the NECAP testing, it is also essential for the students to understand how the Earth "works". There were many questions about the liquid layer of the Earth, and if that was connected to quicksand. After addressing these misconceptions, I began to understand just how little the students knew about the processes in the Earth, they only knew about the labels given to various layers or rock types. By allowing the students to really see the different processes and assess these formatively, I was able to give a formal assessment that accommodated all learners and allowed for a writing activity with choices as to which topics they were assessed on. I would most likely include a writing question after that addressed a higher Bloom's Level the next time I give this assessment.
ESS1 (9-11) - 3
Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time within earth systems by …
3a explaining how heat (produced by friction, radioactive decay and pressure) affects the Rock Cycle.
3b explaining how convection circulations of the mantle initiate the movement of the crustal plates which then cause plate movement and seismic activity.
3c investigating and using evidence to explain that conservation in the amount of earth materials occurs during the Rock Cycle.
3d explaining how the physical and chemical processes of the Earth alter the crust (e.g. seafloor spreading, hydrologic cycle, weathering, element cycling).
3. This assignment allowed students to be creative in their presentation of the phases that rocks go through in the rock cycle. All of my students in both of my classes knew the names of the three types of rocks. To their extreme disappointment, this meant that we were going more in depth with the rock cycle. Knowing which rock went through each process in order to change was the main focus of this project. This was also a great project to have on hand since the day we were supposed to take notes the southern half of Rhode Island lost power. This project was already printed and did not need technology to be completed. Students used their textbooks in order to gather information about different processes in the rock cycle. They had the option to create a hospital pamphlet, newspaper article or a rap song for Rock City.
Nice effort to give Ss a choice. I'll be you still had to "sell" the assignment. ;-) -
4. This chapter test was used to test the student knowledge of the layers of the Earth, mineral properties, rock cycle, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes. The test had 15 multiple choice, 10 fill in the blank, 2 diagrams for a total of 10 labels and a 3 paragraph essay on a given topic. There were three topics for the essay the students were allowed to choose from. I have two test versions, though for this assignment I will only discuss Test A.
5.
6. Develop the evaluation criteria (or key) for your informal assessment or link it here. This description should include the assessment's features, how it addresses different depths of knowledge, as well as an explanation of how it addresses a scientific practice related to inquiry.
Since students in this class were already exposed to the rock cycle in middle school, I wanted to use this prior knowledge in a creative way. We had just finished using a rap song about the layers of the Earth, which the students enjoyed. I based this activity off of their reactions. By providing different types of expression (music, drawing and writing) this assignment not only reached hobbies of a multitude of students but allowed me to see more about the students personalities. They were forced to provide information in a creative fashion, which is something that not many of them have had an opportunity to do. Also, all students were required to present their findings to the class. This helped keep the students on task since no one wanted to look "dumb" when they were presenting. It forced them to put effort into the project academically for a better grade and creatively for social reasons.
Where you able to connect the assignment to an inquiry practice? -
7. & 8. - Already addressed above.
9. Student Work #1 High Performing
Student Work #2 Average performing
Student Work #3 Low performing
The picture did not display on any of these videos. Was that intentional? What type of feedback did you give to each group? What skills would Ss need to do this type of assignment at a level that you would be please about? -
10. This assessment showed a variety of ways to assess students, though looking back it stayed extremely low on Bloom's taxonomy. I have reviewed my formal assessment and concluded that every question was either an identification or definition question. Even the essay, which I used in order to assess higher thinking, is only an identification essay. The students were only required to recall information when given a prompt and provide details. This is not the higher level thinking that I was hoping to strive for in my class. I was hoping to create an assessment that was easily passable for all students. Instead I think that I should have given a more intensive written component. I would like to address the synthesis of plate tectonics and earthquake and volcano placement on the Earth for the next time I give this chapter exam next month.
So how could you address the concepts of the chapter at a higher level? -
III. Analysis / Reflection
11. I definitely learned about the unpreparedness that students assume is allowed. I have had multiple headaches dealing with getting students to be at the quality of work I would assume 9th graders to hand in. These two assignments avoided the persistant laziness that I am constantly faced with. The first assignment, "Rock City", had students become their own project creators. This forced students to be creative and informative in order to get a high grade and to not look foolish in front of the class. Each group presented their assignment to the class, so any group that was grossly unprepared would have been considered bad by their peers, which in the end helped boost the general interest in the project. The chapter test was given as a summative assessment, with a variety of question methods. I used multiple choice, fill in the blank, diagrams and a short essay in order to assess the students learning of the chapter. The students overall learned about the processes of the rock cycle, the layers of the Earth, plate tectonics, mineral identification tests, earthquakes and volcanoes. This chapter about the Earth's Interoir addressed many misconceptions about the rock cycle, though if I were to return to the unit, I would place more emphasis on plate tectonics. Students were struggling with the concept of convection currents under the plates and what causes the movement. Next time I would try and leave more time at the end of the unit to address these questions, instead of in the review for the test.
What do you think the effect would be of challenging Ss to share their videos outside of the classroom? -
It would be interesting to see if grades on your project correlated with grades on your test. -
12. OMIT
13. The following two graphs show the test scores for the formal assessment between two gender groupings.
Beautiful boxplots. Did you use an app to generate them? -
Overall, these graphs only reiterate what I see in the classroom. The males in class often have problems focusing, and overall their average is lower than the females. For this particular class, however, there are less females than males. This contributed to the difference in the graphs. In both of my classes, there are more males than females, which definitely has an effect on the maturity level that I see daily. The students are definitely starting to mature and follow directions better, though I do see a huge difference between the academic standards in my classroom versus an 11th grade biology room. The grades for the graphs were out of 50 points. The highest grade in this class was a 98%, as seen on the male chart. The lowest grade was a 28, as seen on the female chart. These grades were not normal of their gender groupings though, as seen by the averages of 42 for females and of 38 for males.
14. Any student who failed the chapter test was able to use another form of assessment (essay about plate tectonics) in order to bring up their grade. This was considered a "booster" while still holding students responsible for the GSE's in this unit. As stated above, I would redo the unit inculding this assessment. Instead I created the assessment as a way to help students who were struggling understand the material better. I also corrected every students paper with the right answers. Students could look up the answers as to why what they wrote was wrong in order to review for the final. By having the correct answers on the paper I helped guide students correctly when studying or reviewing, as to not create more confusion over a question they already got wrong.
15: Overall, my assessments were targeted for not only the GSE but also my personal classroom objectives. By having the students learn about the Earth's interior I was able to improve upon existing knowledge and also their misconceptions of natural disasters. The next time I do this unit, however, I would like to incorporate higher level thinking assessments.Good. :-)-
Would you have student research the topics and include evidence for their claims?
20/24 Very creative assignment; Would have been nice to see/hear your feedback for each Ss -